The Johnson Baronets of New York / O’Neill of the Fews

By M.O’Neill

This family is a branch of the O’Neill’s of the Fews the descendants of William MacShane.

Johnson Baronets, of New York (1755)

1.      Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was born in County Meath, Ireland circa 1715 – July 11, 1774 he was known as an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. Johnson converted to the Protestant religion, and in 1738 arrived in New York with twelve Irish Protestant families. Some accounts state Johnson had perhaps 100 illegitimate children, but that is a yet to be made a fact. In his will, Johnson acknowledged children by Catherine Weisenberg, a German Palatine indentured servant with whom he had three children. Two daughters Nancy and Mary (Polly) and a son John. With                     Mary Brant, a Mohawk he had three children: Keghneghtago (Brant) born in 1742, Thomas born circa 1744, and Christian born circa 1745; Thomas and Christian died in infancy.  In 1750, Johnson had a son named Tagawirunta, also known as William of Canajoharie, by a Mohawk woman.  Johnson is also believed to have been intimate with the two sisters Susannah and Elizabeth Wormwood, and an Irish woman named Mary McGrath, by whom he appeared to have had a daughter. In 1759, Johnson began a common-law relationship with a Mohawk woman named Molly Brant, with whom he had 8 children. William Johnson died from a stroke on July 11, 1774 and was buried was buried beneath the altar in St. John's Anglican Church, the church he founded in Johnstown.  An interesting fact is that there is no knowledge of any of the descendant’s obtaining a y-dna test or any possible descendants of the Mohawks.
2.      Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet of New York born near Amsterdam, New York on November 5, 1741 died in Montreal, Canada on January 4, 1830, and is buried at Mount Johnson, near Chambly, Quebec.  Johnson took as a common-law wife the Dutch woman named Clarissa Putman with whom he had a daughter Margaret in 1765, and a son William in 1770. In June 30, 1773, Johnson married Mary Watts, with whom he had ten sons and four daughters. Eight of their sons served in the British army and navy.  James Stephen Johnson, who was killed at the siege of Badajoz, in 1814, Catherine Maria Johnson, Adam Gordon Johnson (1781-1843), Anne Nancy Johnson. They had one last daughter who died in London unmarried.
Johnson was a Loyalist leader during the American Revolution this led him to move to Canada during the American Revolutionary War with family and allies.
He was a Brigadier General in 1782 of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. Sir John Johnson, in 1771, was the last Provincial Grand Master of Masons in the colonies of Province of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.3.      Sir Adam Gordon Johnson, 3rd Baronet (1781-1843)
4.      Sir William George Johnson, 4th Baronet (1830-1908)
5.      Sir Edward Gordon Johnson, 5th Baronet (1867-1957)
6.      Sir John Paley Johnson, 6th Baronet (1907-1975)
7.      Sir Peter Colpoys Paley Johnson, 7th Baronet (1930-2003)
8.      Sir (Colpoys) Guy Johnson, 8th Baronet (b. 1965)
 Possible future Baron’s:Colpoys William Johnson (1993-present)    Rufus George Johnson (1996-present) or Benedict Peter Johnson (2000-present)